"Skyscraper" Movie Review

Skyscraper is yet another action film starring Dwayne Johnson. I, like many others, was concerned that this film would be a carbon copy of Die Hard. Cop gets trapped in a super tall building built by an Asian corporation and has to rescue his family and stop the terrorists. So how similar is Skyscraper to Die Hard? Don't get me wrong, it has its similarities but they aren't overwhelming. Skyscraper has its own plot, a lot of heart, and a ton of Mission: Impossible-esque action.

Dwayne Johnson stars as Will Sawyer, an ex-military professional who spent several years as a FBI hostage negotiator. After a tragic incident that caused Will to lose his leg and a child hostage, Will retired from the FBI and began working security in Hong Kong for Zhao Long Ji, a businessman who built the tallest skyscraper in the world. The building dwarfs Dubai's Burj Khalifa and is three times the size of the Empire State Building. The entire center of the building is complete with gardens and a waterfall and there's even a section dedicated to the personnel with apartments that are practically house-sized. Bottom-line: it's a BIG building. The owner and architect, Zhao, had double-crossed some blackmailers in the past and they wanted revenge. These sketchy people decide to hack through the building's security and turn off all fire suppression protocols. They planned to trap Zhao at the top and at the same time frame Will for the attack. It was a perfect plan. What they didn't count on was Will's family also being trapped. Will has to put aside his fear and his past and save his family and Zhao.

The only glaring issue I had with the film was that I had no idea what Zhao did for work. Obviously he was a billionaire but it's never really said what exactly he did for a living or why this building was constructed other than for bragging rights.

The only other issue I had with it was its predictability. There's a few things presented early in the film that is easy to foresee coming back around, and, they do. There's also an event during the ending that's a bit too convenient but as I said, it was foretold toward the beginning.

The thing I loved about the film was that Dwayne acted with his heart instead of his muscles. He poured a lot of emotion into the role and it definitely showed. This film is proof that Johnson doesn't have to be an egocentric ass. He can be a humble, devout family man just trying to do the right thing.

The action was outstanding and well-done. While I'm sure some physics majors might nitpick a bit, I was personally entertained by every stunt and nail-biting moment.

In conclusion, this was certainly one of Dwayne's better films, regardless of some obvious similarities to films such as Die Hard and Mission:Impossible. I give the film a 3 out of 4.